I've been modelling, painting miniatures and wargaming since I was a wee lad in Swansea, this blog details some of my interests - I hope that you like it.
In 2010 I started a new modelling venture - building 40mm AWI/ACW terrain pieces and designing 28mm masters, which are then cast and available for sale from Grand Manner. - All original images and text are copyright of A. S. Harwood (Dampfpanzerwagon)

Sunday, 4 May 2008

Flash Gordon - Tomb Maiden

There is a short story behind this particular miniature. I had first seen it in an issue of No Quarter, the Privateer Press in-house magazine. It is a Tomb Maiden miniature ref. No. PIP81027 and first seen it for sale at Waylands Forge, Birmingham. I felt that the £5.00 price ticket was a little steep for such a slim casting and decided to wait. Later while visiting family in Swansea I found the same miniature in The Comix Shoppe, Swansea reduced to 99p!

The miniature has been stuck in my 'to-do' box for some time and after recently sorting through some magazines I came across a photo of a painted example. This spured me on and I am not sure if I should be proud of this fact or ashamed - the figure took less that 12 hours to complete, from opening the packaging to adding the static grass!

The first thing was assembly, this is a five part miniature, the only joint that I pinned was the torso to the hips, all other joints were superglue. I have read criticism of Privateer Press models - that they are made in too many individual parts and the fit is not very good. I would agree, however with some twisting and patience the model went together OK.

Next was the base (I usually base my figures before painting) which was made from odd pieces of cork (wine corks, sliced into layers and broken apart), DAS modelling clay and some sieved sand. The figure was undercoated with spray can black and touched up with watered down black paint.

Then the whole model was 'wet brushed' (like dry brushing but with more paint) with very dark brown, the figure was then 'dry brushed' with Copper, bronze and gold acrylic paints which gave a 'Steam Punk' look that I thought looked very good.

I then picked out individual sections or plates of metal in different tones of metalic paint as well as a little bit of colour here and there. The face was painted very pale flesh and the spear or halberd was painted to represent ivory. Please note; I am sure the halberd is meant to be bent!

Once the paint was dry or nearly dry as I was moving quite fast with this model, I washed the miniature with different washes - black, black/brown, brown and green. Then more touch up and highlighting to any detail that had been lost with the washes.

The base was painted as usual, pale grey and white to represent stone, with dark earth and a black border. The base is a 40mm round base and the miniature stands 50mm tall head to toe.

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About Me

Born and brought up in Swansea, South Wales, I now live in Droitwich with my wife Sue. My daughter Holly is now working as a teacher in Stourport. My son, Gary lives in Leamington Spa with his Wife Beckie and our two Grandsons Finley and Charlie, but I still think of myself as a 'Jack' (an in-joke known to those of a certain age who count Swansea as their home town). Like my Grandfather, my Father and Uncle, I have made models, painted toy soldiers and wargamed since I was a very young boy and now feel privileged that I have the time to dedicate to my hobby. This Blog is a great way recording how I have developed as a modeller, but it's not ALL about model making. I hope you enjoy it. Tony